Carl S. Portman

‘Funny and brutal. A big-hearted book, I enjoyed it. ’ 

Stuart Conquest, Grandmaster

‘Carl is gifted as both a natural entertainer and storyteller. Although this memoir 

is primarily about chess, the tales in it are filled with a frank and refreshing 

honesty that will literally have your heart racing with adventure. ’

Jovanka Houska, International Master

‘Chess Crusader’ is an absolutely fascinating memoir, and most emphatically not only a book for chess players. It reveals how chess is a metaphor for life, and how skills honed at the chess board can be applied in many real-life situations. This compelling chronicle takes you from Birmingham to Moscow, and plunges you into the life of an author with a remarkable original mind, while also highlighting the hazards of stealing a half-cooked sausage from a deranged German.

It’s a lively, enthralling account of a colourful life dominated by the black and white squares of the chessboard, and their relation to the wider issues of a troubled childhood and the challenges of work, women, love and loss. It’s a tale of adversity, but also of achievement and new friendships and experiences.

The Conrad Press

Chess Crusader: confessions of an amateur chess-player

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